Parents

by

Princess McPhee

Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own them. Jason Katims and Melinda Metz own them. The WB might, UPN might, I don't know. But not me!

Author's Note: I don't know why, but I've always envisioned Isabel as the midwife when one of the aliens has a child. So. Just to let you know. Canon through just after 'Baby, it's You', then AU.

Author's Note 2: The fate of this series will be determined by feedback. Nobody likes it, it won't continue. If people like it, I'll finish it. So, please tell me where you stand!

Summary: After 'Baby, it's You', this is my version of what might have happened.

Rating: PG-13

Tess decided that she was lucky in one respect: With her pregnancy only lasting four weeks, it gave her a shorter amount of time that she'd have to hide it. Even though, pretty much living with Michael was pretty hard to justify to the sheriff and Kyle. She'd managed though, and in the second week, the baby had calmed down a little, and seemed to have acclimatized to the air somewhat.

Max stayed by her side as much as he could, but he had to keep up appearances, so usually, it was only after everyone thought he'd gone to bed, and he could sneak out. Michael had been kind enough to allow them to use his apartment to hide Tess and her rapidly growing belly in.

She'd stopped going to school after two weeks, when baggy clothes couldn't hide her figure anymore. She'd told the sheriff that it was 'alien stuff', which, technically, was the truth, and though he'd wanted to know what, she'd refused. Apparently, he'd gone to Max, who'd told him the same thing, and given up.

She was twenty-six days pregnant, roughly equivalent to about eight months in human terms, and she felt like a whale. Max told her he still thought she was beautiful, though.

Things were starting to speed up and reach a peak, though. Tess's room had been inconspicuously emptied, and all of her belongings relocated. Max had packed up, though managing to hide that fact from the others. They weren't sure what would happen when the baby was born, and they needed to be prepared for a quick getaway. For all they knew, it could serve as a homing beacon for their enemies.

Isabel had taken a short course in emergency midwifery, for which Max was grateful. For his part, he'd read every book on the subject that he could get his hands on, while forbidding Tess to do the same. She supposed he was afraid that they'd scare her unnecessary.

They'd fixed up a mattress in Michael's apartment, and a bassinet, in preparation for the big day. They'd borrowed one of Liz's microscopes, and bought a bunch of sterile needles, to try to figure out if it was safe to take the baby to the hospital, in the event that was necessary. There were diapers and blankets and plastic sheets and gloves and everything that they could possibly think of strewn around the apartment, and Max had only recently decided that they were sufficiently prepared.

The only thing they weren't prepared for was the inevitable: That they'd have to tell the sheriff and the Evans' eventually. In fact, probably pretty soon, since the baby wasn't going to wait forever.

Right now, Tess was stretched out on the couch while the rest of the pod squad was at school. She was dozing, only vaguely aware of what was on the television screen, when a sharp pain ripped through her lower abdomen.

Sitting up quickly and grabbing her swollen stomach, Tess concentrated on breathing while she waited for it to pass, and then gingerly made her way to the telephone. Isabel had told her she'd keep in cell phone on just in case, but right now, she was in school. Tess knew she was going to cause trouble for Isabel, and she hated the idea, but she decided there was really no other choice.

Dialing Isabel's number, Tess waited and waited, assuming that Iz had to get out of the class to answer it, and eventually was rewarded by Isabel's soft voice. "Yes?"

"Iz, it's me. It's time."

Isabel sucked in a strong breath, and there was a pause on the line. Then, "All right. I'll pull Max out of school, and we'll be there right away. I'll give Michael my phone, and we'll leave him in school as long as possible, because we don't want to draw too much attention."

"Okay. Thanks, Isabel."

"We're coming," She replied, and then Tess heard the tell-tale beep that said that she'd hung up the phone.

Settling back to wait, she considered the situation, scared and excited at the same time. She wasn't completely uninformed, she'd done a little reading, and she knew that her son could easily survive even though he was being born nearly a month early in human terms. Coupled with their powers, it shouldn't be a problem.

But then there was after he was born.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door on Max's classroom was flung open, and Isabel strode hurriedly in. Max immediately jumped up, knowing what was going on, but was slowed by his teacher's voice. "What is it, Mr. Evans, Ms. Evans?" He asked.

Isabel looked over at the white-haired man. "Family emergency," She replied. "Please, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't truly important."

The older man looked back and forth between the siblings, then nodded. "Certainly, Mr. Evans. Good luck." He gave them a little smile as they rushed out the door.

Once the door was closed behind them, they broke into a run. "Tess?" Max asked between breaths.

"Yeah. She's okay, but the baby's on its way."

"The plan in action?"

"Yep. Michael's got the phone, and I think that we have everything we need at his place. Tess is there, so we'll be set."

The ride in the Jeep was fast and silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got to Michael's apartment, they found that Tess had readied the area they'd decided would be the birthing area. The plastic sheet was spread out, with the cloth one over it for comfort. She'd pulled on the long T-shirt that had been recommended, and was resting on the bed, panting a little, when they showed up.

The first part of her labor was relatively uneventful. Max and Isabel, at Tess's request, didn't attempt to block the pain until it got severe, and the delivery was imminent. Then Max, at her side, helped her to dull it, while Isabel worked on the more physical aspect of the delivery.

Tess had been warned not to scream, because they didn't want the neighbors over, so she bit hard on her lips, occasionally drawing blood. Max worked harder, but no matter what he did, he could block her pain constantly.

Isabel looked up at them with a smile on her face, and nodded. "He's ready, Tess."

The mother-to-be nodded, and waited for her signal to push. With Isabel's "Now!" came a blood-curdling yell, and a squeeze on Max's hand so hard that he wasn't sure he wouldn't have some healing of his own to do when this was over.

Twice more this happened, and then came the soft cries of an infant. Max's face lit up in a smile, and he watched carefully as Isabel snipped the cord the way she'd been taught to, and placed him, wrapped in blankets, into the bassinet. The smiles left their faces though, when the pounding on the door became apparent.

Max kissed Tess's sweaty forehead, and went to the door, opening it just a little, and stepping out. "Yes?"

"We heard the screams," An older woman stated worriedly, "And we wondered what was going on."

Max smiled a little at the thought of his lover, and shook his head. "A friend of my sister's just had a baby. She decided on a home birth. I'm sorry to have bothered you, ma'am."

The older woman's face broke out in a smile. "Oh, is that it! Well, it was no bother. I remember wanting to try one of those, but it wasn't very common when my children were being born. Good luck to the mother and child."

She bid Max farewell, and he stepped back into the house. He went back to Tess's side, and discovered that his destined bride had delivered the placenta while he'd been talking, and was now cradling her young son. Isabel was poking around in their supplies, and came up victorious with a sterile needle a few moments later.

"I need a look at his blood, Max. If it's human, or human enough, we ought to take him to the hospital. He was born early, and we should get him checked out."

Reluctantly, the young father uncovered his newborn son's foot, and Isabel pricked it gently with the needle, causing a new wail from the infant. She put a drop of blood on the slide, and then poured a drop of blood from a small vial collected from Maria days earlier for comparison.

Sliding both under the microscope, she looked down, and smiled. "Good news, Max. He's 100 percent human. Or at least, as far as his blood goes."

Max send her a quick smile from where he was playing with his child's tiny fingers. "Good. But what about Tess? She's not."

Isabel gave them a crafty smile. "But Maria is, and she gave us this," She said, holding up the vial of dark liquid. "We'll just have to pull the switch again," She told her brother.

He smiled a little nervously, and nodded. "Okay." He switched his gaze to Tess. "Can you go?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm okay, Max." She gently handed their son to Isabel, who cradled him gently, staring at his small, scrunched up face as Max helped Tess gingerly out of the bed. She held onto him as she stood, and with his help, pulled on a robe over the slight T-shirt she wore. Holding her to him firmly, Max started down to the Jeep.

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